Improvement in apparatus for teaching spelling



Nrrnn STATES VPATENT trice,

HALOYON SKINNER, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,758, dated February20, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HALGYON SKINNER, of Yonkers, in the county ofWestchester, in the State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Teaching Spelling; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and vto the letters of referencemarked thereon.

Figure l is a front View. Fig. 2 is a vtransverse section; Fig. 3, alongitudinal section, and Fig. 4 a top view of some of the part-s.

vSimilar letters refer to like parts in all the gures.

In this apparatus the letters of the alphabet are arranged upon theperipheries of a series of wheels or rollers mounted side by side upon ahorizontal shaft, and fixed in a box or case having an opening in frontthrough which one letter on each wheel can be seen; and the nature of myimprovement consists in a convenient and simple method of operating theWheels by which they may be rotated singly or together to bring anyrequired letter or letters into View; and also in a method of holdingthe wheels stationary, and releasing them singly or together as may bedesired; and, in combination with the other parts, arranging a series ofpictures upon a band mounted upon one or more rollers, so that anypicture may be brought in front of a second opening in the case, as maybe desired.

The case a, a is made with a horizontal opening, a, in front, ofsufficient length and width to show one letter on each wheel. Anotheropening, c2, shows one picture at a time.

The letters of the alphabet'are arranged in regular order upon theperipheries of the wheels b Z), which are mounted upon the shaft c, notrigidly secured to it, but holding with sufficient force to cause themto revolve with it when they are left free, but not so as to offer muchresistance to the motion of the shaft when the wheels are heldstationary. To give the proper degree of friction between the wheels andshaft, `a recess is cut in the hub of each wheel, and a piece, c', ofindiarubber or other elastic substance is inserted. The shaft c has itsbearingsin the pieces d r1, which are fixed in grooves in the ends ofthe case. Motion is communicated to the shaft c by the crank operatingthrough the crankshaft l and the cog-wheels c c.

To hold the wheels stationary when the required letters are opposite theopening, a series of pins or teeth, g g, are fixed in the sides of eachwheel, and are seized at the proper time by the catches f f, which arepressed against them by the springs e' i.

The number of pins corresponds to the number of letters on the wheel,with an additional one for a blank space. The catches are drawn backfrom the pins by pressing down the keys or levers h h to which they areattached, and which extend outside of the case.

The rod t', supported by the standards 2 2, forms a fulcrum for all thekeys, which are held in place laterally by the piece 3, which extendsalong their inner ends with projections extending between them. The keyj is not attached to a catch, but to the rocking bar It, which extendsacross the tops of all the keysh h and has its bearings in the ends ofthe case, and by pressing this key all the Wheels are released at onceand left free to re volve with the shaft. When the wheels are all inposition with the blanks opposite the opening, and it is desired tospell a word or sentence, the crank is turned in the direction shown bythe arrow, Fig. 2, and the second key from the left pressed down. Thisreleases the first wheel and allows it to revolve with the shaft tillthe first letter of the word comes into view. The key is then released,and the catch seizes the pin opposite to it and holds the wheelstationary, the shaft continuing to revolve while the next key ispressed down and the second letter brought into view, and so on till theWord is complete. To bring the wheels back with the blanks in front, areversed motion is given to the crank and the key j is pressed down.This releases all the wheels and starts them all back at once, thoughthey do not arrive with the blanks in front at once, as some of them mayhave nearly a full revolution to make, whileothers have only to movethrough the space of one or two letters. To stop the wheels as theblanks successively arrive at the front, another pin, g', is fixed inthe side of each wheel at such a distance from the center that it cannotpass the catch when it is drawn back to clear the other pins, butstrikes upon the top of it at the moment when the blank comes oppositethe opening. When they have all arrived in this position the key j isreleased, and all the catches seize the pins opposite them and hold theWheels from turning in either direction.

The pictures are arranged upon the band o, and mounted upon the rollersm an', which have their upper bearings in the top of the case and theirlower ones inthe supportingpieces p19. The lower ends of the rollers arebeveled to form friction-gears n u', which are operated by thebevel-wheels 0 0 on the shaft l. The Wheels o o are connected togetherby the hub or sleeve o2, and are made to revolve With the shaft by thepin o3, Which passes through the shaft and through the slot in the hub,allowing the Wheels to slide on the shaft to engage With the roller m orm', and move the band to the right or left or leave it stationary, asmay be desired. The Wheels o and o are moved laterally on the shaft l bythe lever q, which has its fulcrum at q, and extends through the -frontof the case, Where it is provided with a knob, g2, by which it isoperated. The wheels o o are covered with leather, and the beveledsurfaces n n are slightly rigid, like the teeth of a wheel, to insure asufficiently rm hold Without risk ot' injuring the band r in case themotion of the shaft l is continued after the band is all Wound off fromone Wheel onto the other.

By removing four small screws the bottom of the case may be taken off,and all the parts removed for inspection or repair.

Having novir fully described my invention, what I desire to secure byLetters Patent isl. Holding the wheels b b stationary, when required, bymeans of the pins g g and catches ff, and releasing them in any requirednumber by the keys It IL, or all together by the key j and rocking bar7c, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the other parts described, mounting a series ofpictures upon one or more rollers, substantially as specied.

HALGYON SKINNER.

\Vitnesses THoMAs SMITH, HENRY HoL'r, JOHN T. BELL.

